Outsiders (Fairy Tail - Gruvia, Gale)

1. Phantom Lord

Juvia Lockser sat staring out of the train window, her eyes focusing only on the view outside. It was raining, and it was difficult to see, but she could manage just fine.

"Hey, did you hear?" Somebody said behind her. "The Fairy Tail guild won the Grand Magic Games!"

"No way!" Somebody else answered. He was as surprised as Juvia, who had almost forgotten about that guild's existence.

"Yeah! They completely destroyed Sabertooth."

Juvia smirked, remembering back to a bad encounter with two of their members, Rufus and Olga, who were on a job the same time she and her ally Totomaru were.

"Wow! Well, it's great to see them back!" A woman's voice said. "To think, it's been seven years since they dissapeared."

"It's quite amazing. They never cease to surprise us!"

The train stopped in the familiar stop in Oak Town, and the blue haired girl stood up and started for the exit.

She pushed past the group of people who had been talking behind her, who were standing in the way of the door.

"Excuse me," she muttered in a low, melancholy voice.

"Oh, sorry!" The girl said, shifting out of the way.

Juvia ignored her; and made her exit. As she left, she heard them whisper to each other the words "Phantom Lord." She smirked.

"Drip drip drop," she muttered, and the rain poured down heavier, much to their annoyance, and Juvia smirked. She opened her umbarella, a notorious part of her outfit, and walked the short trip through the town to her beloved guild.

"I knew it was you. Could you quit it with the damn rain?"

His silhouette sat perched on the wooden framing in the ceiling.

Juvia frowned.

"Sorry."

He jumped down, and stood in front of her.

"Hi Gajeel. Long time no see. How was the job?" She asked, sitting at a table, and taking her hat off.

"Yeah, it was alright," he muttered. "Paid well. You?"

She nodded. Then she looked up at him. "It was fine. But I was on the train and I heard something rather interesting," she started. Gajeel raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? What?"

"The Fairy Tail Guild. They won the Grand Magic Games."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, of course I am. I heard it loud and clear."

"God dammit. So those suckers are back from wherever they dissapeared from?"

"So it would seem."

"Well then. I reckon we should give those sons-of-bitches a good beating."

"And why would we do that?"

"Oh, come off it Juvia. I know damn well that you want to as well."

"Perhaps," she muttered.

Their short conversation was interrupted by the sudden crash of the door opening, and a big man in a large green coat walked in.

He shook the rain off of his hat, nodded towards his allies, and walked through to see the master.

The guild was bustling with life today, which was a rare sight. A girl walked past, holding a newspaper. The headline caught Juvia's eye.

"Hey! Can I borrow that?" She asked blankly. The girl, who looked fearful at first, nodded, and passed her the newspaper. On it, was a picture of the Fairy Tail members, smiling, and laughing, the picture full of confetti, with the whole crowd cheering their victory.

At the front of the picture, a young man with spiky pink hair, and his little Exceed were jumping happily, then a blonde girl stood close behind him, followed by the other Fairy Tail members. Juvia recognised a few from previous jobs in the past.

"Look Gajeel," she said, handing him the newspaper. "They haven't aged a day."

"Bloody hell," he muttered, skimming the article quickly. "Remind me again why we don't compete in the Games?"

Juvia smirked. "The Council have been onto us for years. Everybody thinks we're a dark guild. And to be honest, I don't think Master Jose wants to be a part of the whole farce."

He smirked. "The council are just afraid that we'll destroy everyone."

"Perhaps."

The Iron Dragon Slayer scratched his jaw, then stood up.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Lily and I have things to do."

"Where's Lily?"

"He was out back when I left him earlier. The rain probably scared him in though."

He walked away and ignored Juvia's smirk.

The water mage sat back in her seat and looked carefully again at that picture.

Those Fairy Tail wizards were nothing compared to them. Everybody knows Phantom Lord is the most powerful guild. Their Master Jose has made that very clear. Sabertooth might have come close once, but now that their Master Jiemma and his daughter Minerva are gone, they aren't even close.

"Juvia!" A familiar voice echoed from the ground.

"Sol," she said, greeting her companion.

"Bonjour, Mon chéri!"

"Hello."

"How was your petit emploi?"

"It was fine."

"I was in the city of Magnolia when a festival started," he said. "A festival celebrating the win of the Fairy Tail Guild. I'm sure you've heard."

"Yes. I have."

"I've never seen the city so worked up. Then again, it made my job a lot easier with everybody distracted."

"Yes. The last thing we want is another brawl between you and a guild member."

Juvia sighed, and closed her eyes.

"If Fairy Tail is number one again, that means we're second."

"No, no, no!" Sol laughed. "Nobody is as strong as us! We don't need silly little games to tell us which rank we are!"

"They defeated Sabertooth."

"I know! But I always said that guild was weak. Ahh, such a shame. We could have formed a great alliance with them."

"Yeah right!" A voice came from behind them as Totomaru appeared. "The great Phantom Lord? We don't form alliances. We're too strong for that."

"Totomaru," Juvia started. "You're finally back."

"Yeah, I know, the job took longer than I thought. Eh, what can you do. Have you seen the big guy?"

"Aria? He went in to see the Master."

"Okay, cool. I have the perfect job for the four of us. Just you wait."

Juvia rolled her eyes as he jumped out of his seat and walked towards the Master's door.

The rain continued to pour around the guild, as it got darker. The smiling faces of the Fairy Tail members stared up at the two of them, before the paper was thrown into the bin, where, in their eyes, it belonged.